South African hunters claim th

South African hunters claim the industry actually protects wildlife. Agree?

The hunting industry has fallen out of favour with the public and even big businesses are taking a step back, but hunters claim they can reclaim the industry’s esteem and save wildlife in the process.

South African hunters claim th

Our hunting industry has, in the last few years, taken quite a knock due to shady practices, government crack-down and all-round mismanagement; but hunters maintain that they can save the R6 billion industry.

Conservationists have thrashed the South African government for allowing hunters, mostly foreign, to kill everything from lions to leopards and even rhino in South Africa, all for a quick buck – some folks pay more than R3 million for the experience –. One of the more hairy practises is known as canned hunting, where wild animals are shot in small spaces… like shooting fish in a barrel really.

The condemnation of our ‘cowboy game farms’ has led to a corporate clampdown on hunting, as shown by SAA’s refusal to transport any hunting trophies. Problem is, R6.2 billion is a lot of money and economies run on money, so what are we to do?

Well, the hunters seem to have the solution… allow hunting, and there’s the humdinger. Hunting and hunters in South Africa are the reason we’re sitting with an industry that – due to lack of regulation – has become a free for all, so how do we let the hunters protect the hunted?

There are examples, of course, of hunting establishments who have played a big role in environmental regeneration, by breeding species that would ordinarily be pushed to the brink of extinction through wild hunts; this, however, is not the case everywhere.

While arguments both for and against have their merits, none of this can be achieved without proper legislation, active monitoring and firm enforcement.

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